Ride, Sally Kristen (1951–2012)

The first American woman to fly in space. Ride grew up in Los Angeles and
earned degrees in physics and English from Stanford University. She was
chosen by NASA as an astronaut in 1978 and served as a mission specialist
for Space Shuttle flight STS-7 (1983)
and as a mission specialist on STS 41­G (1984). Following the Challenger disaster she was elected as a member of the presidential commission
to investigate the accident, and chaired a NASA task force (1986–87)
that prepared a report on the future of the civilian space program.

Ride resigned from NASA in 1987 to join the Center for International Security
and Arms Control at Stanford University. In 1989 she assumed the directorship
of the California Space Institute, part of the University of California
at San Diego. She sought to encourage younger students, particularly women,
through her science education startup Sally Ride Science, which created
science programs and publications for elementary and middle school students
and educators.

Ride wrote five science books for children and served on dozens of NASA,
space, and technology advisory panels, including the board that investigated
the second fatal space shuttle accident in 2003.